Wild Capitol Hill: Hawks make Hill their home

It’s easy to forget that wildlife can survive, let alone thrive in an urban environment, but cooper’s hawks and other raptors can be seen flying around Capitol Hill on any given day.

“You can see them flying all over Capitol Hill,” said Kevin Purcell, local scientist, programmer and bird-enthusiast. Check out his blog, which he plans to update with local falcon and hawk news this season. “They’re predators so their numbers are much smaller than the animals they predate on but they are willing to fly around to look for their prey.”

According to Purcell, cooper’s and red-tailed hawks are visible on the Hill during spring, and sometimes a sharp-shinned hawk and other falcons can be seen in the winter. They’ve recently been spotted in Volunteer Park. To pick one out of the sky, look for a bird about the shape of a crow with a very long tail. While pigeons and crows flap in shorter spurts, hawks glide and soar through the air, which also makes them easier to pick out.

“Broadway in the morning (and surrounding couple of blocks to the east) is one the best places to see Coops fly against the pigeon flocks in the Hill,” said Purcell. “One regular area for me is one block west of Broadway. There are group of Deodar Cedars and one block away a very tall Sitka Spruce. They can watch the pigeon flock that hangs out on Broadway.”

Discarded fast food makes the urban environment very “productive,” said Purcell. It attracts the pigeons and in turn, hawks. It’s an interesting example of urban habitat that hawks have adjusted to. Hawks “perch and ambush,” and the local crows try to get rid of them by “dive bombing” and calling loudly.

“Any time you hear a group of angry crows, look carefully and see what the source of the annoyance is,” said Purcell. “It’s likely to be well hidden but it could be a hawk, or an owl or a raccoon in the top of a tree.”

Bird lovers who want to attract hawks should keep their gardens a bit disheveled. A favorite hawk snack is the songbird, which is drawn to thickets of vines and brambles. Caterpillars are a favorite songbird snack, so adding them to the mix welcomes nature in to your backyard.

“These birds prey on other birds, so preserving the urban habitat of other birds, particularly songbirds and small mammals, is essential,” said Purcell.

When asked about their nesting locations, Purcell told CHS that he couldn’t disclose the ones he’s found.

“There are folks out there who will kill hawks,” said Purcell. “They are mostly pigeon fanciers. It’s happened in the PNW before, so hawk watchers are reluctant to make locations public.”

Some of the biggest hawk predators are “roller pigeon” enthusiasts. They breed these pigeons for a genetic disorder that makes them stall and seizure mid-flight, then tumble into acrobatic stunts through the air before falling to the ground. Local clubs throughout the United States compete to see whose birds tumble best. Hawks prey on these pigeons because they are an easy kill, so pigeon enthusiasts hunt hawks and falcons to protect their birds.

Audubon Magazine published an expose on “Operation High Roller,” and the issue got local attention in 2008 when a local bust uncovered the murder of 2,000 hawks a year in Pierce County.

Killing a migratory bird such as a hawk or falcon is a misdemeanor, and Cooper’s hawks, red-tailed hawks and peregrine falcons are all protected by international treaty.

To learn more about hawks and falcons in the PNW, check out theSeattle Audubon and the Washington Ornithological Society, or WOS. Both offer a range of activities from bird watching to hawk activism. The Falcon Research Group is interested in falcons, specifically, and Tweeters is a mail listing hub that connects birders all over Western Washington.

Locally, falcons and hawks are followed and noted by citizen scientist Jack Bettesworth. He bands the hawks with a distinctive blue “visual ID” tag on their legs. This tag has a two letter identifier and allows people to identify and track birds without capturing them. If you record which leg the tag is on, it also indicates the sex of the bird. If you see a perched hawk (especially if you photograph it) check for the blue tag and report the sighting to Jack. (We’ll update this post shortly with Jack’s contact info — just need to square away the correct address). Jack can be reached through the WOS website, which lists his number and email. 

Streissguth Gardens: Capitol Hill-side green space inspires new book

At Streissguth Gardens, the bright purple rhododendrons shout loud and clear that a beautiful Capitol Hill spring is just around the corner. This lush and idyllic garden is tucked away in a small pocket of northwest Capitol Hill, an official part of St. Mark’s Greenbelt. The backdrop of the gardens is a stunning view of the Sound – on a clear day, the view extends from the skyscrapers downtown over to Gasworks Park and beyond. Tended with love by a local family, this park is open for public enjoyment but feels like the private backyard of an old friend.

The garden is city owned but family operated. Daniel Streissguth, his wife Ann and their son Ben have worked on the land for over 40 years and never imagined it would become what it is now, which inspired their new book In Love With A Hillside Garden.”

“It had been such a wonderful experience to go through everything and develop the garden,” said Ann, a clinical psychologist and professor emeritus at the University of Washington. “We had so much fun as a family and we all contributed in our own ways throughout the years… [we hope the book] encourages other people who have parcels of land that they could make city property to do it, to develop the raw hillside and take responsibility for its care.”

Ben, Ann and Daniel collaboratively wrote the book and focused on their different strengths in each chapter, with information on everything from irrigation to urban development and indigenous plants.

“We’ve learned a lot about hillside gardening and how to work in places where you have clay, sand and then, suddenly, springs. You have to deal with all these things when you’re mucking around a hillside,” said Ann. “We thought people might be interested in that and it’s the reason for [the book] title – it was a challenge.”

Here is a special excerpt from their book which is available through the University of Washington Press:

The Streissguth Gardens (as we now call them) sit on the precipitous steep western slope of Capitol Hill, less than two miles, as the crow flies, from downtown Seattle. The garden encompasses four city lots: the East Blaine Street stairway runs through it on a grade too steep for cars. As you climb the stairway, our house and garden lie to its north, and the public part of Streissguth Gardens lies to its south. Vistas of Lake Union, Queen Anne Hill, downtown Seattle, the ship canal, Puget Sound, and the tops of the Olympic Mountains unfold before you, weather permitting. From the East Blaine Street stairs, you can disappear into the wooded gardens on narrow dirt paths, finding earliest spring bulbs blooming at your feet or a canopy of blossoms at your shoulder. Even from your automobile on Broadway East below, you can look up and see the panorama of color, changing each season as the towering big leaf maples lose or gain their leaves, inhibiting or encouraging the sunlight and the flower carpet beneath.

The landform here, the soils, the plant materials, the geological underpinnings of today’s urban development, are the products of forces acting over millennia. In our part of the Pacific Northwest, the glacial activity of the Pleistocene and post-Pleistocene era formed the land into the distinct pattern of north-to-south ridges and interspersed lakes that now constitute Seattle. It created, at the southern edge of the continental ice sheet, a new seedbed that gradually nurtured the predecessors of western hemlock, which, like the sword fern undercover, thrived in the moist maritime climate, photosynthesizing even under the local cloud cover. Douglas fir, with its undercover of salal, preferred the warmer sunnier slopes.

Seattle had been founded in 1853. The great fire burned the city’s center in 1893, and the first trains of the transcontinental Great Northern Railway arrived that same year. The discovery of gold in Alaska in 1897 eased the great depression of 1893–1896, as Seattle became the gateway to Alaska. As the city expanded to the north, a streetcar line from downtown was operating on 10th Avenue East as far north as East Lynn Street by 1891. In 1990, J. A. Moore platted and began the development of a 160–acre “Capitol Hill” site, with dreams of attracting the Washington State capitol building. Wirth’s Addition to the city of Seattle (where our house now stands) had been platted in 1888, including the land between East Howe and East Blaine Streets. The Broadway Second Addition (south of East Blaine Street, where the public Streissguth Gardens are located) was platted two years later, with the street rights-of-way established in a standard sixty-foot width. Much of this narrow strip of land on the steep western side of the hill, between 10th Avenue East and Lakeview Boulevard, north of East Highland Drive, was saved from substantial development by its severe slope. The grand homes were built instead in these early years on Federal Avenue East, nearer to Volunteer Park, and along the streetcar line. A section of the steepest, most rugged jungle-like wilderness would much later be designated the “St. Mark’s Greenbelt,” lying one-third of a mile long immediately south of The Streissguth Gardens.

Daniel, an architect and a professor emeritus at the University of Washington, bought the undeveloped land in the 1950s, reachable only by the Broadway stairs at that time. He built a stately four-story house on the property, directly to the right of the stairs. When the house was completed, Daniel started working on a garden in his yard. All the while, Ann, his future wife, was building up her garden just next door.

“We met and fell in love in our gardens,” said Daniel.              

When the two married, they bought the house Ann had been renting next door and began clearing the jungles of trees, blackberry and weeds that surrounded them.

“We didn’t really visualize a garden at all at that point, we just wanted to cut back the blackberries and make space, so we just started chopping and clearing,” said Ann. “Then, we could see something white through all the jungle we were chopping through. It turned out to be a wild trillium on the hillside that we could barely see. That’s how we made the first path, to get to that white flower.”

The garden’s development has been an organic process. The Streissguths build trails and design planting projects as they go. There is also a vegetable garden, which Ann started on the sunniest part of the lot. She’s growing potatoes, strawberries, onions, tomatoes, zucchini, lettuce and more.

“She’s a pioneer woman,” Daniel said with a smile.

As time went on and the family cleared the space, people from the community started to take notice, especially as they came down the Broadway staircase, a popular area of the park.

“We were beautifying the neglected area of stairs and people started using it as exercise corridor and walkway,” said Ben. “They complimented us how nice it looked and would check in on its progress. We realized then that part of what we were doing was encouraging people to come into the space, that we wanted to make it a community space.”

It was still private property then, but the wild brush and overgrowth surrounding the Streissguth land was in danger of becoming a condominium building and parking lot. To curb over-development, the city issued a parks bond in 1989 to purchase land threatened for demolition, focusing their attention on the area near St. Mark’s Greenbelt. The Streissguths donated their two lots to the city and, including the three lots the city purchased from the condo developer, created a large space for an open park. The city purchased the land from the developer and set up the contract with the Streissguths, all of which finalized in 1996.

“The original gift of the land [included] an agreement with the city to lease back the land to us and continue to maintain it in the conditions in the time that we gave it,” said Ann. That agreement extends throughout their lifetimes and legacy, until the family decides to forfeit those rights. They also pay for all the maintenance and tools needed to keep up the garden, which runs on solar power and a complicated irrigation system.

Ben grew up tending the gardens and is now an irrigation specialist and horticulturist. He designed the complicated system that brings water to the hillside rhododendrons and other plants which developed nicely under his care. The amount of land the family currently gardens equals out to a little over an acre.

“The only thing the city has paid for is the water and water meter,” said Ben.

People interested in working with the Streissguths can sign up as volunteers through their website with one condition – they have to follow the family’s vision for what the garden could be. The garden is open to the public every day, and most times you can catch Ann or other members of the family, including their dog Tiger, pulling weeds or clearing. Students from Bertschi School look forward to releasing butterflies into the garden every spring.

The garden’s development is far from over, with a lot more undeveloped land still to conquer in the years to come.

“There’s absolutely no timeline, because the garden is growing slowly and changing,” said Ben. “To build out the whole irrigation design will be another three years. When we’re done with the original design then it’s time to extend the garden, which will take another couple years.”

There’s also no need to wait for the official start of spring to visit the Streissguth Gardens.

“We’re in flower every day of the year,” said Ben.

Madison Living Building design meeting notes: A “solar rights issue”

Seattle may be the first city in the world to approve a completely self sustaining, environmentally sound and solar powered multipurpose commercial building – once the Capitol Hill Design and Review Board approves it. Wednesday night’s meeting in Seattle University’s Alumni Relations building was packed to capacity, signifying the importance of the project moving forward.


A potential 65 to 75 foot high, six-floor commercial building conceptualized and planned by the Living Building Pilot Program would live on the corner of 15th Ave. and E. Madison Ave. and could break ground as early as this November if permitted. Local groups PAE Consulting, The Bullitt Foundation, Point 32 and Miller/Hull have collaborated on a series of designs for a building that they say would function completely on its own energy and water systems while providing an “elegant” aesthetic that promises to engage McGilvra Park and one of the busiest hubs in Seattle. CHS offered up our analysis of the project’s early design concepts here.

One of the biggest issues identified Thursday night: the building’s height. Essentially, the building will overshadow its neighbors, who say they have enjoyed sunny decks and downtown views for years. As designed, the building will hit the edge of the property line and neighbors will have as little as five feet of breathing room or a maximum of 10 feet of space from the large building. Plus, some said their sunny decks will be overshadowed by the building, which will be taller than any other in the area. One concerned neighbor called it a “solar rights issue.” Earlier building designs assured residents the building would be less than 65 feet tall, but now the project needs to reach up to 75 feet in order for its green systems to work.

“I don’t think we can give any more [space] to get this to work,” said Brian Court, Miller/Hull associate and last night’s project presenter. “It’s part of the unintended consequences of urban development.”

The corner of 15th and Madison today. CHS has heard that CC Attle’s has been offered a home in the new building when completed but the iconic bar’s owners are looking for a new home. (Photo: Clara Ganey/Seattle University THE SPECTATOR)

The issue of space also extends to the sidewalks and how the solar panels will look from ground view. Pedestrians will be forced to walk directly under the solar panels along 15th Ave., and the wall of solar panels will be opaque and look like a blank wall from the street. Designers assured the board that the visual experience would be a pleasant one, but the board reps said they want more conscious thought put in maintaining the culture and feel of the neighborhood and not overpower it and at least make it an interesting to structure to look at.

“The historical and cultural importance of this neighborhood must be considered,” said a local resident. “It is the gateway to the African American community and is also a historically Jewish and gay and lesbian community. We’d like to see those groups represented or celebrated in some way.”

Also, the board asked the designers to consider what the building will look like at night.

“It could be a potential black hole at night,” said Wolf Saar, community representative on the Design Review Team.

At the end of the intensive meeting, the board decided on a number of recommendations to the planning team before the project can move forward.

Those include:

  • Reevaluating the solar panels and what will essentially look like a blank wall. The board’s preference would be that it would go away, but they understand its necessity, so it must be hospitable.
  • The greenhouse location should be more compelling – the board is not convinced of its location, it should be a focal point to the building, not hiding in the back corner.
  • The building’s public engagement level needs to be higher and the board requested that the designers think more about the pedestrian experience along 15th Ave., which has been a street singled out by the team as an opportunity for cultural growth in the neighborhood.
  • They support the increased height departure but need to be more convinced on the design before they can commit.
  • The board is not convinced on the E. Madison stairway – the overhang on to the street is debatable but it has to be bold and “done right.”
  • “As a board member, it’s an honor to consider such a sustainable and progressive building,” said Evan Bourquard, Design Professional Representative on the Design Review Program Board. “We want this to be a showpiece of ingenuity but also respond to the needs of the neighborhood.”

    The project overview and sustainability goals were presented by Jason McLennan, author of the Living Building Challenge and CEO of the Cascadia Green Building Council, the Pacific Northwest authority on green building and sustainable development. The Living Building Challenge is not a competition; rather, it’s a level of high standard that challenges the status quo of building codes and structures and encourage urban sustainability that can stand the test of time.

    “It’s not enough to be less bad, it’s time to build buildings that are truly good… with a notion of beauty and good design,” said McLennan.

    Presenters offered three building design concepts to the Design Review Board, but after much deliberation, the four hour meeting ended with the Board needing more information to be provided at the next design presentation at the Recommendation phase. Part of the issue was the presentation of the three designs – the two that included an inner open courtyard or atrium – were deemed incompatible with the project by the presenters. Their preferred design needs to be revisited and the suggestions made by the board must be answered before a building design can be decided.

    CHS has compiled some of the main points from the presentation. 

    Features of the preferred concept include:

    • A vertical greenhouse with glass walls on three sides that will reach the roof, visible from the corner of 15th and Pike.
    • An “irresistible” stairway with glass walls looking over E. Madison Street., with a direct entryway from the sidewalk. As you ascend, the stairs offer views of the surrounding hillside and downtown. Designers hope the views will encourage people to use the stairs rather than the elevator. 
    • A ground floor with commercial businesses in a mezzanine-style courtyard, with office buildings on the top levels.
    • A “transformation” of 15th Ave., encouraging people to use McGilvra Park and possibly reserving part of the street for pedestrian and bike access only, if permitted by Seattle Department of Transportation.
    • A self-sustaining water and energy system that covers creation, use and discharge of all water in the building. 100 percent of water used in the building will be filtered and recycled on-site. Rainfall will hit roof panels which will collect in a cistern and then filtered. There will be a high filtration system for kitchen and drinking water and a low filtration system for the toilets, plant fertilizer and compost. The building will feature waterless urinals and toilet filtration system that will seperate waste and capture the urine from toilets, where it will be reused in the greenhouse as fertilizer. (The compost and urine systems will be on negative pressure so you can’t smell them).
    • Solar energy that will be captured on site with passive cooling. Huge photovoltaic panels will capture solar power and radiation that will heat the building in the winter and can cool it off in hot weather. The amount of photovoltaic power needed is greater than the amount of power available on-site, so much thought has been given to ensuring correct panel placement and coverage to capture the most energy possible.
    • Wall slots and natural skylights that designers hope inspire the feeling of being under a large tree. As the days change, light will move and reflect in different areas of the building, encouraging natural ventilation and views in to the building from the outside.
  • Large terraces on the third level facing south that will feature vegetation and water irrigation systems.
  • Moving forward, the applicant team will further develop their plans in response to the Board’s guidance and submit a Master Use Permit application to DPD. Once that is submitted, there will be a 14-day public comment period.

Dangerous sidewalk? Controversy hasn’t changed city’s position on Broadway art


the mambo close-up Originally uploaded by seasnow2007

When we first reported the case of artist Jack Mackie against photographer Mike Hipple, CHS wondered if the art at the middle of the controversy shouldn’t be removed from the Broadway sidewalk to protect citizens from further litigation. Is that scenario possible? Unlikely, city officials tell CHS.

After speaking with the Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, Seattle Department of Transportation and City Council staff, CHS has learned that while the ongoing lawsuit has stirred up a great deal of controversy, it hasn’t sparked any action for officials to change the situation around the Broadway Steps nor in the way the City of Seattle acquires public art.


“In matters of public art, it is standard to retain copyright,” said Ruri Yampolsky, director of the Public Art Program through the office of Arts & Cultural Affairs told CHS. “The city physically owns and takes care of the work but the copyright belongs to the artist. We respect the artist’s right to their own creative capital as defined by the law.”

Whether or not an artist decides to pursue legal action against anyone is up to them individually, not the city, Yampolsky said. Any questions regarding a potential copyright infringement are passed on to the artist individually.

If the City Council or SDOT receives any complaints, concerns or questions regarding public art, officials told CHS they refer the matter to Yampolsky’s department. To date, Yampolsky says there have been no communication from SDOT or the Council regarding Mackie’s Broadway work.

“Oftentimes what can happen is we get a call requesting use of an image, and we always defer those questions to the artist directly,” said Yampolsky.

It’s a call that might have helped Hipple. In the meantime, the photographer continues to raise donations to help pay for his “defense fund.” You can learn more and join his cause on his Mike Hipple Legal Defense Fund Facebook page.

Capitol Hill plans big bash to welcome Elliott Bay to Pike/Pine


Front Entrance, originally uploaded by ST Katz.

Capitol Hill is helping The Elliott Bay Book Co. celebrate its grand opening by throwing a ‘welcome to the neighborhood’ block party on Thursday April 15th from 4 – 7 p.m. on 10th Ave. between Pike and Pine.


“The Chamber is delighted that Elliott Bay is coming to Capitol Hill. We think it’s an incredible draw for our neighborhood and we want to bring them into the community and encourage residents and businesses to support the store by shopping there,” said Jack Hilovsky, executive director of the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce. “They offer tremendous possibilities to continue to enhance the retail district of Pike and Pine.”

New Belgium Ale is sponsoring the beer garden and Neumos is donating stage equiptment and a tent for a live band to perform. They haven’t decided on an artist yet, but are looking for someone to play for free. Members of the City Council will preside over the official ribbon cutting and Hunters Capital has invited Mayor Mike McGinn, but no word yet on whether or not he’ll be in attendance.

Via Tribunali, Café Vita, Pike Street Fish Fry and Quinn’s are just a few of the local companies donating goods and services to show their support. Hunters Capital LLC, the real estate company that owns the building Elliott Bay Books is moving in to, is footing the bill and networking closely with the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce, which will receive proceeds from money raised. They’re providing a large banner that will stretch across 10th Ave. and telling the businesses in their networks about it though e-mail blasts and word of mouth.

“Everyone’s been terrific — their support has been overwhelming,” said Jill Cronauer, director of property management for Hunters Capital. “This is a great community here on Pike and Pine. Elliott Bay Books will be a great asset to the community and we hope there’s a great turnout and that they feel welcome.”

Jimi Hendrix statue will stay on Capitol Hill — UPDATE: Plus, a new neighbor


jimi Originally uploaded by Grant P

When Janie Hendrix and The Friends of Jimi Hendrix Park began developing plans for the project at 2400 S. Massachusetts St., there was a lot of debate about whether or not the iconic statue on the corner Broadway should be relocated.

The debate is over. Jimi isn’t leaving Broadway.

Hendrix said she discussed the issue at length with Michael Malone, the owner of the statue and the building on the corner of Broadway and Pine that had been home to Everyday Music and will soon be home to Blick Art Supplies.

“We’ve realized that Capitol Hill doesn’t want to lose the statue,” said Hendrix. Hendrix, CEO and president of Experience Hendrix LLC, is currently on tour with a 19-city tribute concert series.


If the news gives you the urge to kiss the sky, there’s actually a new Jimi Hendrix album available. Valleys of Neptune is a collection of recordings from 1969, a little over a year before his death and after the release of Electric Ladyland. Sony Legacy Records and Experience Hendrix LLC are planning to release other memorabilia this year, the 40th anniversary of Jimi’s death. There will be a new DVD documentary, a Hendrix-themed iPod and “Rock Band” video game, plus a re-release of all his major albums.

Could be something to add to your collection when Everyday Music opens in its new location next to Elliott Bay Book Co. in April.

UPDATE 10:10 AM
From the CHS comments, thanks to Cory for pointing out that Jimi has a new neighbor. Welcome, Chuck!

Photo: Cory Johnson

“We sat down and discussed how we can solve the issue and have Jimi represented on Broadway and at the museum, and decided to create a totally different design,” said Hendrix. “He was very charismatic when he was playing, so we can come up with something unique and different for the park that also represents him.”

Hendrix hopes to have a statue commissioned and installed for the park’s grand opening, tentatively slated for 2012, the year Jimi would have turned 70.

“We had a community meeting about a month ago, and a lot of people came out and were really supportive with nice ideas,” said Hendrix. “We want to include a butterfly garden and rain drums, and are working on a crop circle design that would look like him from the sky.”

Seattle to take new look at Cal Anderson surveillance cameras

Three cameras perch on poles above the visitors to Cal Anderson Park capturing surveillance video of the area 24 hours a day. But no one is watching. Cal Anderson is now the only park in Seattle where cameras like these operate.

The future of the cameras is now in the hands of City Council member Sally Bagshaw, the new chair of the Parks and Seattle Center committee.

Cal Anderson’s cams (Photo: Justin Carder)

“The pilot program has since come to an end, and the Council will need to decide whether to allocate funds to extend the use of these cameras or to take them down,” said Philip Roewe, legislative aide to Bagshaw.

Bagshaw’s committee will take up the discussion of the cameras at their meeting next Thursday, March 18.

Former Mayor Greg Nickels quietly had the cameras turned on in February 2008 sparking public outcry. Community members and the ACLU criticized the “Big Brother” tactics.

“It was the Nickels administration’s idea in response to the declining city parks,” said Ann Corbitt, legislative aide to City Council member Tom Rasmussen. “The council didn’t have a chance to authorize them.”

At the time, the Nickels administration said the $850,000 camera program would deter drug dealing, vandalism, illicit sex and other illegal activities. But further budget cuts made maintaining the cameras impossible. Today, Cal Anderson is the only park where the cameras still operate. No money was budgeted to either remove or use the cameras already in place. All that City Hall could do was set up legislation for who could view the video and when. In June of 2008, the Council adopted Ordinance 122705 creating the Surveillance Camera Pilot Program and severely limiting their use.

 “When the council had a chance at the policy, the main concern was privacy and limit the amount of people viewing the tapes as possible,” said Corbitt. “We heard the call from the public and did what was asked for.”

Portion of Ordinance 122705

The result is spy cams stuck on autopilot. The city’s rules for utilizing the cams are so restrictive that even though the recording continues round-the-clock every day, the collected video has almost never been viewed.

Last October, the City Auditor’s office presented its findings on the effectiveness of the cameras to deter crime and provide safety. We’ve included a copy of the report attached to this post. The report concluded that the cameras had not been effective at deterring criminal activity and the only documented time SPD utilized any footage was during the investigation of reports of a roving gang attacking people in the park in August 2009.

“This testing period has shown inconclusive – the police haven’t used [the footage] and it hasn’t been a very active tool,” said Dewey Potter, spokesperson for Seattle Parks and Recreation.

Today, the only people who can view the tapes are a select few in the Seattle Police Department. While the Parks owns the equipment, staff cannot view, operate or utilize any of it, according to Potter.

SPD would not comment on the cameras and referred us back to Parks for more information.

“Parks has a very limited role,” said Potter. “We own the software but the footage is under lock and key at the police department. We only can get access to it if we make a public disclosure request.”

Contrary to Publicola’s recent item on the cameras where an unidentified source told the site that the cameras are inactive, Potter says the recording continues.

The City Auditor’s nine recommendations for the camera system (Click to view)

“To my knowledge, the cameras are still running,” said Potter. “They record digitally for two weeks then start over.”

Thursday’s City Council parks committee session will begin to address the future of Cal Anderson’s cameras and plans for cameras across Seattle. Bagshaw is expecting representatives from the Office of the City Auditor and SPD to attend. No word yet if anybody from Parks will be there or a rep from Mayor Mike McGinn’s office.

“Nobody has heard any hints of talk from the mayor’s office about the cameras,” said Kathy Mulady, spokesperson for the City Attorney’s office.

Given the backlash over the way the cameras were installed in the first place, it seems unlikely the Council will fund continued operation of the technology without significant changes to how the cameras are to be used and — maybe more importantly — how the public thinks about them.

“There is a new administration and a new council now,” said Corbitt. “They may have new ideas.”

Quiet Capitol Hill community group speaking up in 520 debate

A small group that says it represents about 600 Capitol Hill homeowners has become the loudest Hill voice in the debate over the future of the 520 bridge. The North Capitol Hill Association has rallied around outcry over plans to lift and widen the sagging SR 520 bridge.

“The SR 520 project is our Achilles’ heel,” NCHA president Pegeen Shean told CHS.

Shean’s group worries that the state’s preferred ‘A+’ design plan for the bridge will damage the community for their neighbors in Montlake and damage the environment in the Arboretum and on Lake Washington.

NCHA has hosted community events on the bridge issue that Shean said over 150 residents have attended. The group hosts these meetings with the Sustainable 520 Coalition. Prior to the 520 debate, turnout has been closer to 20, Shean said.

Shean said there are over 600 members in NCHA, referring to the 600 or so homes within the NCHA neighborhood boundaries but she did not say how many of those residents are voting members of the group. To become a voting member, residents can sign up for an annual $10 individual or $25 family membership. NCHA is a state nonprofit organization.

“It costs us about $600 [to host a meeting], including all the mailings,” said Shean. To reach a wider number of people faster (and cheaper), all of the NCHA information, including updates on meetings and agendas, is now available online.

NCHA hopes to establish itself as a representative of the north Hill community and to act as a community information center and collective representative in local politics. Check out their map to see if you’re eligible for membership — the boundaries begin on E. Howell Howe St., from Broadway Ave. to 15th Ave. E., and up through Interlaken Park.

The area is one of the wealthiest in the city with the average price of homes currently for sale in the neighborhood well above $1 million.

The combination of website bulletin board and Facebook page are the main channels of information currently available on the group. Shean told me that NCHA is working hard to fix the site and make it usable.

“Because we are all very busy and are volunteers, [the website is] a place where neighbors help each other,” said Shean. “If someone can answer [another persons’] question, feel free to do so. We encourage the neighborhood to sound off, post a garage sale, or a favorite restaurant.”

Crime meetings moving closer to Hill: SPD reports no progress on roving gang that beat man

Corrected version: Due to an editing error, some statements in this report were mistakenly attributed to crime prevention coordinator Mark Solomon that should have been attributed to East Precinct commander James Dermody.

The monthly East Precinct Crime Prevention Coalition meeting that helps community members from the Hill, Central District, Leschi and other neighborhoods on the grid voice their concerns about crime around their homes and businesses, will be moving to a more Capitol Hill-central location. Details on that move and more CHS notes from Thursday night’s February meeting are below:

  • There has been no progress in identifying who was responsible for a night of violence on Capitol Hill and in the Central District involving a group of thugs who beat a man near 15th and Madison.
  • In an exciting development for Capitol Hill residents, EPCPC meetings will move to the Seattle University Alumni Relations building off 12th Ave. and E Marion St., beginning in April or May. SU has sanctioned a space in that building for community meetings and will be open for public reservations. Currently, meetings are held at the Seattle Vocational Institute at 2120 South Jackson Street in the Central District. March’s meeting will still be at Seattle Vocational Institute. CHS, for one, had advocated for more of these meetings to be held on Capitol Hill so this move should help make it easier for community members from our area to attend.
  • The SPD Crisis Intervention Team, CIT, gave a presentation on the efforts they do in the community with the mentally ill or people in crisis. Currently, 250 to 300 SPD officers have taken the 40-hr certification course for CIT and they are frequently the ones called to the scene when someone is believed to be mentally unstable or a danger to themselves or others. They collaborate with other departments when an individual is taken into custody or put into involuntary commitment and try to ensure that the needs of the community, and individual, are met. When someone needs SPD assistance with a mentally ill person, they can request a CIT officer directly through 911 or contacting their department. SPD officers also encouraged community members to call the Crisis Clinic.
  • East Precinct commander Jim Dermody spoke about the benefits of his program and asked the community for more support. Currently, 3 officers handle three different areas of the precinct. Terri Johnston, who covers the West precinct, Broadway, First Hill, 12th Ave., Yesler Terrace and Eastlake, is the Capitol Hill CPC point person for anyone with community crime concerns. She was not at the meeting last night.

“I have requested overtime hours for these officers to attend these meetings,” said Solomon. “It’s important for them to come to [EPCPC] meetings so they can speak for themselves and meet you.”

Contact Johnston to set up block watches and other community crime prevention acts.

“They can fill the gap [between officers and the community,” said Dermody.

Currently, CPC officers are grant-funded employees. With new budget cuts for this year and more expected in the next, Dermody urged community members present to express their support for the program to City Council. He wants funding for more of these officers and wants to expand their capabilities.

“We are in a critical position,” said Dermody. “And 2011 doesn’t look good budget-wise. We need to justify their position in the community [to the city].”

  • SPD released their city-wide crime statistics for 2009 compared to 2008. CHS will report on that next week with a full neighborhood crime trends report. So stay tuned for that.
  • Car prowls remain a concern in every neighborhood throughout the East Precinct. Officers met with the president of Seattle Central Community College to talk about the spike in break-ins in the SCCC lots.

“These types of crimes are difficult to interdict,” said Dermody.

More units have been dispatched to survey these areas, and SPD reported last night that things are looking “better.” Dermody reported that they have captured their “top ten-ers” and have the main culprits behind the recent wave of car prowls in custody, awaiting trial. 11 of those 13 individuals are juveniles. SPD says they are working with other organizations to make sure their efforts are “more refined in individual cases.”

  • In terms of the “junkie phone” we reported about last month on the corner of Broadway Ave. and E. Thomas St., SPD said they are watching the area very closely.
  • The homicide on the 800 block of James, where a man was shot as he sat in the cab of his truck, still has no new developments.
  • The next meeting is scheduled for March 6 at 6 p.m. at Seattle Vocational Institute. EPCPC has officially decided to change their start times from 6:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. because they tend to run late. Topics planned include a presentation from city officials on sex offender registration.